Key holder



,1 I J. M. BENNETT 2,051,935

KEY HOLDER Filed Feb. 16, 1935 INV NTOR I BY /E ATToRriE y Patented Aug.25, 1936 UNITED STATES rarest" re ics :KEY HOLDER JohnM.Bennett,'Detroit, Mich.

Application February 16, 1935,'Serial No. :6,'8'3'3 6 Claims. ((1525-96)My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in a key'holder'and'forms in'parta continuation of -my application Serial No.698,966 filed November 21, 1933 and in part a 5continuationofmyapplication 704,864 filed J anuary 2, 1934 andparticularly insofar as the key holder'isadapted for retaining'keys inposition for ejection "from opposite edges of the holder.

In additionto providing'akey holder inwhich such function maybeattained, it is also anobject to provide in a key .holder of this class,key'ejecting"springs'which will serve theiunction of ejecting the keysoutwardly of the holder and at the'same-time, through frictionalengagement,

15 will serveto-retain the latch membersaccurately located so that theswinging of .a key inwardly of the-holder will always'engage the latchmemher at the proper position.

It-is another'objectof the present invention to 20 so form thesupporting body on which the latch springs aremountecL that a minimumarea of the latch springs .will bein contact with the supporting body,so that a maximum length for flexing will be provided.

25 Another object of the present invention isthe provision of yieldableattaching means which will serve as a pivot and which are, through theirown body, mounted and located in position.

Y Other objects will appear hereinafter.

30 The invention .consistsin thecombination and arrangement ofpartshereinafter .describedand claimed.

The invention will be best understood by .a reference to theaccompanying drawing which 35 forms apart of this specification and inwhich,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the invention with one of :the side wallsremoved.

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

40 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the key retaining members.

In the device I provide a supporting body I 45 mounted on opposite facesof which are the covers 8 and Q. Mounted on a reduced portion I of thesupporting body, is a U-shaped spring providing the legs I I and I2which carry latch noses l3 and I4 respectively. It is these latch noses50 which serve to engage the key when it is swung into position betweensupporting body I and the cover 8 or 9. A spring I5 is inserted in theslit I6 formed in the supporting body and this spring,

being U-shaped, is provided with the bowed legs I? and [8 which serve toengage the key and eject the same from between the cover andthesupportingbo'dywhen the key isreleased from the latch. When the key isswung downwardly between-the cover and the supportingbody, the leg I lor I3 is flexed inwardly and placed under 5 tension. Each of the latchlegs I I aridIZisprovided with a tubular member I9 on which is mountedthe press button 2!] which extends through the opening 2!, formed in'thecover. By pressing the press button-20 inwardly, the legs 10 I I and I2are brought into approach so'that the latch'nose willclear thekeyportion engaged and permit the spring or lll to eject the key outwardly.It will 'be noted from Fig. 1 that the springs I l and I8 rest inengagement with the legs I I and I2-when they'arespread'outwardly intotheir normal-position, and these members IFI and-I8 resist furtherspreading of these'legs. The purpose of this is-to' prevent an unduespreadingof the legs so that this latch nose would not be in the'properpositionwhen the key is swung inwardly into position between thesupporting body "and thecover. The key when swung inwardly should strikethe inclined portion'of the latchnose. If these legs, however, werepermitted to spread apart further than theirnormal position, the keywould strike the latch on the endrather than on the inside portion, withthe result thatavery unsatisfactory operation of the device would bepresent. This engagement of the springs I and I8 with the legs I I and'I2,' iorms apart of this'invention and they serve'asguide to resistundue spreading of the legs. 1

:It "will .be :noted that the portion II] about which the latch legs arepositioned, is cutaway tojprovide-the beveledsurfacesQZ and 23. Inrnyprior structure this portion IIJ had its opposite faces extend parallel,with the result that the legs II and I2 were in contact with the memberI0 throughout a considerable area, and the flexing 40 of the legs II andI2 took place from the inner edge of the portion I 0, whereas in thepresent structure, the flexing takes place at a point adjacent the outeredge of the portion I0. This, experience has shown, will result ingreater life in the members II and [.2 and a more satisfactory servicein all of their functions.

In Fig. 4 I have illustrated the resilient retaining member which servesto retain the keys in position. This consists of a stripof resilientmaterial doubled upon itself to provide the legs 24 and 25, which arepositioned in embracing relation on the portion 26, so that the largerportion of the legs overlies the slot cut in the supporting body. In myprior structure, I had these legs 24 and 25 bent inwardly toward eachother at right angles to lie in engagement with one face of the portion26. In the present structure, this inward bending has been eliminated,and I have punched inwardly from each of the legs, a lug 21 which liesin engagement with the edge of the portion 26 and serves to lock the keyretainer in position. This affords a more satisfactory operation thanthe device with the legs bent inwardly, as well as one which is moreeconomical to manufacture. By punching the tongues out of the metalinstead of bending, a crystalizing of the metal is avoided, and theresiliency of these members 24 and 25 is retained in its normalcondition. Furthermore, in assembly, the operation becomes simpler withthe tongues than with the angularly turned portions.

The knobs 28 formed on the legs 25 and 24 serve to enter into the eyeletof the key and retain the same in position. With this type of mounting,the key may be slipped inwardly in the space 29 between the supportingbody 1 and the cover 8 or 9. This will serve to retain the key inposition on the key holder, and form a pivot for the key, while at thesame time, permitting easy removal and replacement of the key. It willalso be noted that the leg 24 is longer than the leg 25. This permitsthese parts, when pressed inwardly at their free ends, to overlap, thusaffording a greater clearance for a key when inserted or removedtherefrom.

It will be noted that there are two sets of members l5 with the springlegs formed thereon, and that there are two sets of the latch legs IIand I2. A pair of latches are positioned at opposite edges of theretainer so that a pair of keys may be mounted on the retainer A andalso on the retainer B to swing inwardly of the upper edge. This permitsthe formation of a key holder adapted to accommodate four keys while thekey holder itself is maintained of minimum width. The is due to the factthat the opposite edges of the key holder serve as ejecting spaces for apair of keys.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form ofconstruction, I do not wish to limit myself to the precise details ofthe structure shown, but desire to avail myself of such variations andmodifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A key holder of the class described, comprising: a supporting body; acover mounted on said body on opposite sides thereof in spaced relationthereto; a U-shaped resilient member positioned in embracing relationover one side of said body and extended to the opposite side thereof; anoutwardly projecting latch nose on each leg of said U-shaped member atthe end thereof, said legs being flexible inwardly toward each otheragainst the resiliency of the material from which made; and meanspositioned between said body and the covers for engaging said legs andlimiting the springing apart of said legs.

2. A key holder of the class described, comprising: a supporting body; acover mounted on opposite faces of said body in spaced relation thereto;a pair of resilient members mounted on said body and each extendedbetween said body and one of said covers; a latch nose on the free endof each of said members; an ejecting spring positioned between the coverand each of said members and normally engaging therewith for limitingoutward flexing of said members.

3. A key holder of the class described, comprising: a supporting body; apair of covers mounted at opposite faces of said body in spaced relationthereto for overlying said body; a spring positioned in the spacebetween each of said covers and said body; a pair of resilient latchnose bearing members mounted at one of their ends on said body andextended into the space between the body and said covers and normallyengaging one of said springs, said springs resisting flexing of saidmembers beyond a predetermined distance in one direction.

4. A key holder of the class described, comprising: a supporting body;'a pair of covers mounted at opposite faces of said body in spacedrelation thereto; a pair of resilient latch nose bearing members mountedon said body and each extended into the space between said body and saidcovers; and means carried by said body and engageable with said membersfor resisting flexing of the same beyond a predetermined distance in onedirection.

5. In a key holder of the class described, a supporting body; a U-shapedresilient member mounted on said body in embracing relation, said bodyat the point of mounting of said member having its faces extendednon-parallel to each other, said faces converging in the direction ofthe legs of said member.

6. In a key holder of the class described, a supporting body having aslot cut therein; a key retainer comprising a U-shaped resilient membermounted on said body in straddling relation and having its legs extendedfor overlying said slot; and a lug punched from each of said legs andengaging said body at the end of said slot for preventing longitudinalmovement of said legs in one direction.

JOHN M. BENNETT.

